Muscatine's Joe Wieskamp shoots over West High's Connor McCaffery during their game at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday. Both are committed to play at Iowa in college.(Photo: David Scrivner, Iowa City Press-Citizen)Buy Photo

The 6-foot-6 Iowa commitment in the Class of 2018 was speaking from the Detroit airport, nearly at the end of an international journey that stretched from Italy to New York City to Charlottesville, Va., where he had just delivered an impressive performance at the NBPA Top 100 camp.

Wieskamp was named one of 10 all-stars in the invite-only camp — which included a who’s who of Class of 2018 and 2019 players, plus a handful of international prospects — after averaging 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 24.9 minutes a game.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster, knowing I can compete at the highest level,” Wieskamp, 17, said. “Doing what I’m doing at the high school level’s great, but … being able to go against the best guys in the country and being able to succeed is definitely motivation for me, knowing that I’m doing the right things.”

There were other Iowa prospects in this camp, too, including four-star Class of 2018 point guard A.J. Green of Cedar Falls and four-star Class of 2019 forward Patrick McCaffery.

Before this summer, Wieskamp was already considered a top-50 national recruit in his class by several outlets. His profile certainly hasn’t taken a hit.

He’s in the middle of a whirlwind basketball tour. Before the camp in Virginia, he took part in the Adidas EuroCamp in Italy. Only the top 10 high school players on the Adidas circuit (his Iowa Barnstormers AAU team is affiliated with Adidas) are invited.

“There was pretty much a scout from every NBA team watching us,” Wieskamp said. “It was pretty high-level ball.”

After about 10 days at home, Wieskamp’s summer tour continues with basketball in California, South Carolina, Kansas City, Las Vegas and Houston — and that’s just moving his calendar into early August.

Iowa's coaches, who want him to play the 2 or 3 guard in college, couldn't ask for better college preparation. One of the lessons Wieskamp has grasped during his all-star tour is when to be unselfish (which is more his style) and when to take over.

"I’ve tried to learn to be as efficient as I can," he said, "because you’re not going to get as many looks as you’re used to. You’ve just got to knock down the ones that you get.”